Firefly Lane: A Novel

Firefly Lane is the poignant, powerful story of two women and the friendship that becomes the mainstay of their lives. For 30 years, Tully and Kate buoy each other through life, weathering the storms of friendship: jealousy, anger, hurt, resentment. They think they've survived it all, until a single act of betrayal tears them apart...and puts their courage and friendship to the ultimate test.

That Night

Toni Murphy was eighteen when she and her boyfriend, Ryan, were wrongly convicted of the murder of her younger sister. Now she is thirty-four and back in her hometown, working every day to forge and adjust to a new life on the outside. She's doing everything in her power to avoid violating her parole and going back to prison. But nothing is making that easy – not Ryan, who is convinced he can figure out the truth; not her mother, who clearly doubts Toni's innocence; and certainly not the group of women who made Toni's life miserable in high school.

Kristy Rodsho says:"Love the book. But, the narration is distracting."

I jumped to download the audio version of That Night. I don't have much time for reading over the next few weeks but plenty of time commuting, so win win.

I'm a little over half way through and love this book. It's all I was hoping for.

But, the narration is distracting. The first couple of hours I couldn't get past how nasal-y her voice is. But, sure enough after a couple of hours that completely dissipated and doesn't bother me a bit at this point.

The thing I cannot get past is that she cannot pronounce certain words properly and it pulls me out of the story every time she says: going, growing, shoulder and older and certain other less frequently used words that aren't coming immediately to mind.

Older sounds a lot like odor and shoulder sounds like show-der. She doesn't seem to have problems pronouncing her L's in other words so I'm not sure if it's an accent or where this is coming from. Unfortunately, she uses older and shoulder a lot so it's been pulling me out of the story a lot. Making me roll my eyes because I have to regain focus.

Anyway, happy to have a great listen on the way to and from work for the week.

The Divorce Papers: A Novel

Twenty-nine-year-old Sophie Diehl is happy toiling away as a criminal law associate at an old line New England firm where she very much appreciates that most of her clients are behind bars. Everyone at Traynor, Hand knows she abhors face-to-face contact, but one weekend, with all the big partners away, Sophie must handle the intake interview for the daughter of the firm's most important client....

Night Film: A Novel

On a damp October night, beautiful young Ashley Cordova is found dead in an abandoned warehouse in lower Manhattan. Though her death is ruled a suicide, veteran investigative journalist Scott McGrath suspects otherwise. As he probes the strange circumstances surrounding Ashley’s life and death, McGrath comes face-to-face with the legacy of her father: the legendary, reclusive, cult-horror-film director Stanislas Cordova - a man who hasn’t been seen in public for more than thirty years.

The performance. I wish I could give more than 5 stars. Where the story got a little lengthy and lost me the narrator kept me completely gripped. Very talented.

Who was your favorite character and why?

McGrath is the key player and easiest to become emotionally attached to. But, Nora and Hopper were right there. Ashley was my favorite as far as favorites go. I think she probably steals the show for a lot of people.

Nanny Returns: A Novel

Nan is back. After living abroad for 12 years, she and her husband, Ryan, aka H.H., have returned to New York to make a life for themselves. In the midst of getting her new business off the ground and fixing up their fixer-upper, Ryan announces his sudden desire to start a family. His timing simply couldn't be worse. To compound the mounting chaos, her former charge, Grayer X, now 16 years old, makes a drunken, late-night visit, wanting to know why she abandoned him all those years ago.

Considering I'm not going to even fish the book, I'd have to say this is a fail. I loved Nanny Diaries, I even read it twice. This time around, I didn't connect at all with any of the characters and felt indifferent, and sometimes confused, in the direction(s) the book took. I rarely find fault with the way an author chooses to write her own book. This one was a disappointment though. It left me feeling like I wish I would have quit (reading) while I was ahead. Oh well, on to the next book.

Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three

“Free the West Memphis Three!” - maybe you’ve heard the phrase, but do you know why their story is so alarming? Do you know the facts? The guilty verdicts handed out to three Arkansas teens in a horrific capital murder case were popular in their home state - even upheld on appeal. But after two HBO documentaries called attention to the witch-hunt atmosphere at the trials, artists and other supporters raised concerns about the accompanying lack of evidence.

Somehow I missed this entire newsline, documentaries, etc. Never heard about this case until I stumbled upon the audio book. I was engrossed from page 1! I enjoy true crime books in general but have always had a general rule not to read stories that involve children because they are too hard for me to stomach. I will keep that rule going forward because this book will haunt me for the rest of my life. 3 murder victims and 3 wrongly convicted victims of a warped society and a huge sinkhole in our judicial system.

(The narrator is awesome. I thought she did such a great job!)

The authors outline of this case kept me completely enthralled. I watched the documentaries online and learned as much about this travesty as I could.

There are not shameful enough words to describe the injustices that all of these kids experienced. The murder victims were not sought justice for and the Judge and Prosecutor of this case are disgraceful at best. The three innocent kids sent to prisonand brutalized and treated like animals for the next 18 years while the killer walked free and probably got off on that too.

The epilogue of this book has a great summary of how insanely unfair this is and really shocking that this happened in AMERICA. Americans allowed three all American boys to be treated unfairly and unjustly in a heartbreaking way. The epilogue says something along the lines of boys who were not old enough to buy a lottery ticket were questioned for hours on end by armed police officers without the presence of an attorney or parent. That actually happened. And they were convicted based on the information obtained during that interrogation. It doesn't remind us that the boy who gave a false confession had an IQ of about 72. Unimaginable. Makes my skin crawl thinking about it.

Prayers were answered the day those 3 were set free. However, the murder victims still have no justice as nobody is searching for the true killer/s.

The person who did this walks free every day, among all of us.

My heartfelt sympathies to Chris Byers' brother Ryan and the families and loved ones of all three murder victims, to Damien, Jason and Jessie and their families and loved ones. Bless Jessie's father's heart.

Waiting to Be Heard: A Memoir

Amanda Knox spent four years in a foreign prison for a crime she did not commit. In the fall of 2007, the 20-year-old college coed left Seattle to study abroad in Italy, but her life was shattered when her roommate was murdered in their apartment. After a controversial trial, Amanda was convicted and imprisoned. But in 2011, an appeals court overturned the decision and vacated the murder charge. Free at last, she returned home to the U.S., where she has remained silent, until now.

A tragic tale of political egos and machismo versus a young American girl with innocent ideals and blind trust in what should be right.

Some of the prelimary evidence that was discussed and shown and how people were judging her cuddling and kissing with her boyfriend outside of the murder site seemed silly. I felt sorry for her that she was so far removed from those that loved her. I was happy to read the book and hear that her family rallied around her as best as they could.

I am now a confirmed 100% believer in her innocence. And, I am so impressed by her. She definitely took every minute of her experience and learned from it. That is evident in her telling this story.

She is lovely to listen to and does such a great job with the delivery and writing of this book. Surely she had some assistance, but I was very impressed by how well this book is written.

So many times my heart just broke for her and how the system failed her and how so many people betrayed and judged her.

She shares how people judged her for making a false confession and how they insisted they would never do such a thing, how people judged her for certain behaviors following the murder and insisted they would never act in such a way. But, none of us know how we will react in any situation until we are put there. Keys to her behavior as well were her innocence and young age. If people were to judge me based on my actions at 21, I wouldn't likely have a single friend- I'm sorry to say.

She trusted in people of authority, friends and the system so much. She just believed everything would work out. Her attorneys/friends/family did the best they could in my opinion, except in one instance. I was fried when I heard that she was wearing jeans and tshirts to the trial because she wanted to portray herself as she was - no false impressions. But, someone should have explained to her how that would come across and the respect she should show the court, the family and the system by dressing more appropriately.

I'm just happy she's back at home and hope she stays here. I hope the family of the victim will someday see how there is really no way based on DNA evidence that she could have done this.

These Things Hidden

Once the golden child of tiny Linden Falls, Iowa, Allison Glenn watches her reputation crumble as she is sent to prison for five years—convicted of a terrible crime. But what really happened that fateful night? Allison’s younger sister is the only other person who knows the truth. Now out of prison, Allison is more desperate than ever to set the record straight, but the revelation of the truth could have far-reaching consequences.

Favorite character: I spent a lot of the book with anger toward Allison. I think Charm and Gus were my favorite set of characters.

The first few chapters in this book had my eyes glazing over at times. I thought it was quite boring, but knew it was probably setting the stage. Which it was. Then it went from boring to gut wrenching, almost disturbing at a certain point and then I was hooked.

I thought the narrators did a great job. Although Josh's voice can be painfully annoying at times and that's why I gave 4 stars and not 5. But I think all baby talk is annoying so it could be more to do with that than the narrator.

Maybe a SPOILER*** About halfway through the book you get an important clue to the surprise ending. But by the time the story unravels it's not all that surprising.

Scene I could have done without: SPOILER- *** Robbery scene - I felt it was unnecessary and sort of random.

I also felt the character Devin was unnecessary and there was too much time spent on her in the beginning of the book, lending to the boredom. But, on the contrary, I thought the Rhianne character was great and made an entrance to the story with perfect timing, solidifying my admiration of Charm.

Touch & Go: A Novel

Justin and Libby Denbe have the kind of life you’d find in the pages of a glossy magazine: A beautiful 14-year-old daughter. A gorgeous brownstone on a tree-lined street in Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood. A great marriage, admired by all. A perfect life. When investigator Tessa Leone arrives at the crime scene in the foyer of the Denbes’ home, she finds scuff marks on the floor and a million tiny pieces of bright green Taser confetti. The family appears to have been abducted.

Would you try another book from Lisa Gardner and/or Elisabeth Rodgers?

I would not go in search of another book by Lisa Gardner. I did like the narrator. The book was just okay for me. Started out a little rocky with the 'pain has a taste' or whatever that opening line was. From there it did pick up and I listened all the way through- so that says something at least.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I definitely wouldn't have had the odd scene with the daughter's medical issue (without giving a spoiler) in their hide out place. It didn't play out well at all, didn't add up and I was surprised to see the book was written by a female after reading that scene.

What aspect of Elisabeth Rodgers’s performance would you have changed?

Nothing, thought she did a great job.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

I wouldn't pay for it. But, I'd probably watch it on Lifetime.

Any additional comments?

It's a good summer read or airplane listen. Nothing spectacular but not bad either. The people that reviewed it as the best mystery they've read must not get out much.

The Next Time You See Me

Thirteen-year-old Emily Houchens doesn’t have many friends; her classmates find her strange. When one day she happens upon a dead body hidden in the woods near her house in Roma, Kentucky, she decides not to tell anyone about her discovery - a choice that begins to haunt her. Susanna Mitchell has always been a good girl, the dutiful daughter and wife. While her older sister, Ronnie, trolled bars for men and came home late, Susanna kept a neat house, a respectable job, and a young daughter.

The story kept me engrossed from page 1. Awesome connection to the characters through the author.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Yes, I was on the edge of my seat throughout the book. I'm a commute listener and I found myself listening in the evenings and on weekends. I couldn't stop.

Any additional comments?

Another reviewer stated that the ending was flat, and I have to agree, the ending was a bit flat. But, I think it would have been impossible to have an ending that trumped the rest of the book. Every moment in this book counted.

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